


A what now?

by Widow_Spyder



Series: Whumptober 2019 (Anime) [2]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of fluffy, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Prompt #2, Sickfic, Whumptober 2019, extra chapter added, in its own way, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-11-22 22:44:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20881895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Widow_Spyder/pseuds/Widow_Spyder
Summary: The first thing that registered in Gen’s aching head was that everything around him was ringing. The next thing was that he was on the cold ground...





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing that registered in Gen’s aching head was that everything around him was ringing. The next thing was that he was on the cold ground — or at least his legs were on the ground. His upper body seemed to be lifted on top of something soft, though he couldn’t tell what. 

_What happened?_

There was a constant ache in his bones that seemed to throb in time with his heartbeat, and he felt vaguely sick. His mind was foggy as he fought for consciousness.

The next thing that cut through his mind was a voice. 

_“Gen?”_

_“I think he’s waking up.”_

_“Will he be alright?”_

Scratch that. He heard multiple voices, all sounding different, and were off in numerous directions. 

Two sounded male. Another was high pitched, so most likely female. 

What did they mean; _“Will he be alright?”_

What exactly happened that he wouldn’t be?!

He tried opening his eyes to see what was going on but was met with blurry surroundings and darkness. He squinted to try and get his vision back together, but it was difficult. 

Mostly because half of his vision was obscured by something damp that was pressed on his forehead. 

Water droplets were continuously dripping onto his face near his eye. He tried to swat away at it, but his hands wouldn’t cooperate. So he moved his head in an attempt to dislodge it. Not a great idea… The moment his head shifted even a centimeter, it felt like it exploded. His vision re-blurred, and he was very close to being sick right there. 

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you.” A voice directly above him said. “You hit your head pretty hard, so just try to stay still.” 

That would explain the migraine. But it still failed to explain _why_ he had a migraine in the first place. 

“Gen, can you open your eyes?”

_Had they shut again? _

With heavy effort, Gen managed to open his eyes a little bit and was again met with blurry surroundings. Though this time, he could see the outline of someone above him. 

That, someone, turned out to be Senku. Why the hell was he lying in Senku’s lap? 

Gen tried to ask, but all that came out was a pitiful grunt. His throat was locking up as he fought the oncoming tears in his eyes. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to breathe through the renewed waves of pain. 

_Honestly,_ why was he always the one to get hurt? 

A dab of something cold and wet was on his lips, distracting him from the pain. He found himself slowly shifting his mouth to get more of it. Like a miracle, cool water started flowing down his aching throat, and soothing the desert that it had turned into. 

He groaned when it was suddenly taken away. 

“Easy, don’t drink it all at once, or you’ll ten billion percent be sick on this floor.”

Gen shifted back to his original position before trying to open his eyes again. Thankfully, they opened without a problem, though they were still a bit blurry. Instinctively, he moved his hands to rub at them and internally cheered when they obeyed him this time. He didn’t get very far, though. As sluggish as his arms were, they didn’t even make it halfway before someone to his left was grabbing and forcing them back down. 

“Senku said not to move, so don’t move.” Kohaku firmly ordered. 

“What — what happened.” Gen didn’t even recognize his own voice. It sounded strangely deep and foreign. 

“There was an explosion.” Senku answered. 

Oh. “A what now?” Gen almost screamed. He knew what an explosion was, and he could hardly believe he was actually in one. 

“The experiment, remember? We accidentally mixed too much hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, and it exploded.”

That’s right. Senku asked him to help with an experiment in the lab. Of course, by “help,” he meant “observe” as Senku was always the one to do the chemical work. He was there for manual labor, not the chemical labor. The last thing he remembered was grabbing a vial of a liquid he couldn’t pronounce the name of, off the shelf when he heard Senku shout. 

That was it. 

“You hit your head pretty hard.” Senku interrupted his trip down memory lane. “Got a nasty cut on your forehead.” 

So that’s why he was on the floor. Mystery solved. 

“And you?” Gen asked. If he was hit this hard, then Senku must’ve been hit as well. 

“Got thrown back into the wall and burnt my fingers a little but not as bad as you.” Senku finally took the wet cloth off his eye and shifted his legs underneath him. “We’re going to move you to Chrome’s shed so we can make sure you don’t have a concussion.” 

“Alright.” Gen sighed. He honestly didn’t want to move at all. 

Slowly but surely, they made their way up into a standing position. Of course, Senku had to hold him up the entire time, since the moment he was vertical, he felt his stomach roll, and his legs shake. Once he was confident he wouldn’t throw up, Senku placed his hand on his shoulder, and they slowly shuffled to the entrance of the lab. 

There Kohaku, Suika, and Chrome were waiting. 

Kohaku had her usual steel face on, while Suika and Chrome looked worried. Though Suika looked more worried than all of them, immediately running up to him and asking if he was alright. 

“I’ll be fine, Suika-chan ~” Gen smiled and patted her watermelon mask. 

“Chrome, can you take this and wash it out, then grab a new one with fresh water?” Senku asked. 

“Yeah, leave it to me.” 

Gen looked up and had to restrain himself from gasping. Senku passed a dark red cloth over to Chrome, who pinched it between his fingers and started walking away with it. 

_Dark red. Blood. His blood. _

He didn’t know why, but the sight made him dizzy, and he felt himself tipping over. He would’ve fallen to the ground if it weren’t for Kohaku’s incredible reflexes. 

He heard Senku laughing. “Don’t tell me the mentalist is afraid of blood.”

Gen breathed in and out slowly before responding. “Nah. Just a little shocking is all, Senku-chan.”

“Mmm, let’s get you to Chrome’s shed.” 

Gen would’ve been fine with walking once he got his breath back, but apparently, Kohaku was having none of it, as she heaved him up into her arms like he was a rag doll. From there, she bridal carried him the rest of the way. 

“Really Kohaku-chan, I can walk on my own. There’s no need for this.”

Kohaku didn’t answer. 

The walk was short and silent though Gen could swear he heard his dignity going up in flames. 

Once they were entirely up the ladder and inside the small hut, Kohaku went to help Chrome carry the supplies he was fetching. All that was left were Senku and Suika, who was folding out a blanket and pillow under Senku’s orders. 

Thus began, Senku’s complete medical check up. He followed Senku’s finger back and forth, was told to repeat noises he heard but couldn’t see and eventually had to endure a candle being waved in front of his face. 

“Your eyes aren’t dilated, so that’s good.” Senku said, blowing the candle out. 

“Which means?”

“You don’t have a concussion. Just a cut on your forehead and probably some sore muscles.” Senku stood up and fiddled with some bottles on a shelf. “You’ll be fine after some rest.”

Gen nodded and crawled over to the bed that Suika had prepared for him. The latter had long since left on the promise that she’d bring lots of flowers over to show him when he woke up. 

Senku walked back to him and gave him a cold towel that Chrome had prepared. 

“Leave that on your head while you sleep. I gotta go clean the lab.” Senku said, making his way towards the latter. “Don’t move from there, mentalist.”

“Aww, Senku-chan. Have you known me as anything other than obedient ~.” 

Senku snorted and fully made his down the ladder, leaving Gen alone in the room. 

He lay back against the straw pillow he was given and cautiously placed the wet towel on top of his head. It smelled like lavender, and Gen soon found himself drifting off. 

He made a mental note to stay away from the lab when Senku was doing chemical stuff from then on, before completely drifting off into a painless sleep. 

_The science kingdom was definitely the right choice for alliance. _


	2. Extra Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gen feels the aftereffects of his run in with the explosion.

Sleep was good, Gen had decided. In turn, he also decided that being shook awake while in the middle of deep sleep was decidedly the worst feeling in the world. Especially since it felt like his head wasn’t connected to the rest of his body. Gen groaned and swatted at the hand persistently shaking his shoulder. In his sleep, he had turned onto his stomach and with some effort, was able to turn on his side and open his eyes. There he was met with the face of Senku in front of him and Chrome behind him. 

“We’re going to bed,” Senku said, making Gen blink to clear away the cobwebs in his head. 

“And you’re waking me, why?” Gen asked. He could’ve just stayed asleep through this. 

“Have to make sure you’re still in there.” Senku tapped his forehead before moving his finger back in forth in front of him. “Call it one last check for a concussion.”

Gen grabbed the hand and moved it away. “I thought we already went over this.”

“No harm in making sure.” Senku shrugged. 

Gen grunted and moved back into his pillow. “Well, I’m fine.” 

“Sure, you are.”

Gen glared as harshly as he could at the both of them. “Can I sleep now?” 

“Go ahead.” Senku leaned back and stood up. 

Gen closed his eyes again and quickly fell back into a dreamless state. 

The minute both inhabitants of the science hut were sure the latter was asleep, they spoke up quietly. 

“Are you sure he’s okay?” Chrome asked. “His eyes looked strange.”

Senku agreed. His eyes were way too glazed over for him to be miraculously better in just 4 hours. “We’ll have to keep monitoring him.” 

“But he’ll be alright?” Chrome worriedly asked. 

Senku sighed and moved some of Gen’s hair out of his face. “Yeah. He’ll be right as rain soon.”

With that, both laid out their beds and went to sleep.

———————

Between the three science users who slept in Chrome’s shed, they all had the opposite sleeping habits.

Chrome was a heavy sleeper and often sprawled his limbs everywhere. Gen wasn’t a heavy sleeper, nor was he a light sleeper; he was somewhere in between. Like a cat, he would curl up into the most ridiculous and uncomfortable looking positions as he slept, yet he still woke up without sore muscles. Senku was a light sleeper and only slept in the normal “on your back and side” positions. Because he was the lightest sleeper possible, he was the first one to wake when he heard strange whining in the hut. 

He quickly got up and lit the candles in the hut and peered down at the source of the painful sounding whimpers. Gen was laid on his side and hunched in on himself as he clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Gen?” Senku lightly touched one of Gen’s hands to which a gasp and violent flinch was his response. Senku cursed and immediately withdrew. 

“Hmm? What’s going on?” Chrome’s sleepy voice interrupted. The light and noise must’ve woken him up, and yet Senku didn’t miss the way Gen flinched a bit as Chrome talked. 

“Shh.” Senku quietly ordered. “No loud noises.” He whispered, blowing out the candle as well. Chrome remained silent as he slowly sat up, looking worried as he watched them. Senku was glad that the moonlight was able to give them some natural light to see. Though it wasn’t by much, the difference seemed to make Gen relax a little. 

“Gen?” Senku whispered as low as possible. “Can you understand me?” He asked and got a small and quick nod as an answer. Senku lightly placed his hands on Gen’s and tried to get him to release his tight grip on his hair. “You need to talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Head.” Gen croaked. “Hurts.”

Senku scooted closer until he was sitting directly next to Gen’s head. His hands were still rubbing Gen’s hands to coax them to relax. “Is it bilateral or unilateral?” He asked to which the hut was met with silence. 

Gen eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and Chrome looked utterly clueless. “I don’t think anyone knows that, but you, Senku.” Chrome whispered. 

Senku sighed as he settled for an easier question. “Where is the pain?” 

“Left — side.” Gen managed to say as Senku finally removed one of his hands and took it on his own. 

“Then, it’s unilateral,” Senku said and got more confusion in return. “It’s a migraine.” He elaborated. “Like a huge and painful headache.” 

Chrome nodded and looked down at Gen, who had started gasping in pain. Chrome’s expression took on a grim tone. 

“I’ve got this.” Senku cut off his next train of thought. 

Chrome looked hesitant. “You sure? I can help.”

“The fewer people, the better.” Senku glanced down at the bundle of pained mentalist before looking back at Chrome. “Can’t overwhelm him when he’s like this. Sorry.” 

Chrome understood and nodded at both of them before laying back down. “Good luck.” He whispered as he went back to sleep. 

As soon as Chrome’s breathing turned even, Senku started tucking blankets around Gen’s shaking form and took to moving him into his lap like the day before. 

“How — how long?” Gen managed to ask. 

Senku hesitated in answering but responded anyway. He needed to know. “It’ll last a few hours.”

“Tell me — you are kidding.” Gen ground his teeth together, making Senku have to rub his neck to get him to relax a little. 

“Sorry,” Senku whispered as Gen took a deep breath and unlatched his jaw from its death grip. 

“Hate.” Gen shuddered halfway through his sentence. “This.”

“Shh, just don’t talk then.” Senku didn’t miss the few stray tears running down Gen’s face and immediately darted forward with his free hand and wiped them away. “You’ll only make it worse.” Senku sighed. 

Gen gasped, as a new wave of pain shuddered through his body. Instinct had him curling into the closest thing to comfort, which just so happened to be Senku’s waist. Senku didn’t mind. He honestly felt a little bad that they hadn’t progressed science far enough in this new world to have painkillers. He hated seeing anyone in pain, especially Gen, for some reason. 

Gen’s hand suddenly lunged out and frantically started waving in all directions until Senku caught it, and Gen immediately took on an iron grip on it. Senku shushed him and started gently smoothing his free hand through his hair. Every new wave of pain was met with pained whimpers, muffled through his clothes as Gen smushed his face into his body, as well as tightening his grip on Senku’s hand. Every time, Senku tightened his hold on Gen’s hand and redoubled his efforts to soothe the mentalist through it. 

At one point, Senku had to remove Gen’s face from burying itself into Senku’s clothes because he had started gasping for breath. 

“Breathe, just breathe,” Senku whispered, rubbing Gen’s back as he turned onto his side, still in Senku’s lap. “That’s it. You got it.” Senku lightly patted Gen’s back and praised him. “Good job, keep at it.”

The shivering had long since stopped, replaced by sweat starting to pool around on top of Gen’s forehead. Senku removed the blanket and took a cloth that was nearby and started wiping Gen’s face with it. He smoothed away Gen’s bangs, revealing the hidden bandage from his cut earlier. Red dots were soaking through the white bandage. Senku realized the cut had reopened as Gen kept scrunching his face up in pain. It needed to be changed. 

After a brief debate in his head about how to move forward, Senku settled for convincing Gen to move and lay on his back with his head in his lap. From there, Senku was able to change the bandage successfully, despite Gen’s weak attempts to escape from Senku’s poking hands. Senku felt sympathy for him, but it had to be done. Now all they had to do was wait for this to pass.

———————

Roughly 5 hours had passed, and the sun was starting to rise. Gen’s whimpering had quieted down a lot, and he finally seemed to be over the worst of it.

Still, in the same position, Senku kept watching him the whole time, logging down each movement that had him relaxing in relief or curling in distaste. Gen was staring dazedly ahead of him, his eyes not really focusing on anything. Senku stopped running his hand in his hair and leaned down to whisper in Gen’s ear. “I’m going to lay you down, okay?” 

He didn’t really get an answer back, but that was okay since Gen remained quiet as Senku lowered him to the floor again. He got up and stretched his legs. Senku hadn’t even noticed them falling asleep, but it felt good to get them moving again. 

He looked back down at Gen, who was staring at him with half-closed eyes. Senku affectionately smiled and laid back in front of Gen and took his hand in his own again. Gen’s grip wasn’t as tight anymore and was losing it’s holding in his hand, but that was fine. Senku could hold his hand tight and let him know that he was still there. Gen closed his eyes fully and let his head droop into the pillow. Seconds passed, and he was sound asleep. Senku wasn’t surprised in the slightest. The night had been quite an ordeal for both of them. Senku used his free hand and cupped Gen’s cheek, having to hold in some traitorous giggles as Gen unconsciously turned his head into his hand. Senku rubbed his thumb over Gen’s cheek, feeling the old tears dried upon his face. 

Senku smiled and closed his own eyes. He still had another hour before Chrome would most likely shake him awake and ask how the night went. For now, they could both rest with the comfort of one another close by. A good feeling, both decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, it's a little short but still good I hope! Here's the extra chapter I promised for "A what now?"
> 
> Thank you for reading! And I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> APOLOGIES TO ANY AND EVERY SCIENCE PERSON WHO KNOWS THINGS WITH CHEMICALS! 
> 
> "We accidentally mixed too much hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, and it exploded.” Can that happen? Idk... I read it on the internet. I'm sorry. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading this far!


End file.
